WREXHAM, WALES - APRIL 26: Ryan Reynolds co-owner of Wrexham ahead of the Sky Bet League One match between Wrexham AFC and Charlton Athletic FC at Racecourse Ground on April 26, 2025 in Wrexham, Wales. (Photo by Robbie Jay Barratt - AMA/Getty Images)
Sam Smith the fitting hero for Wrexham as Ryan Reynolds’ ambitious Wrexham promotion vision pays off
Wrexham clinched another promotion on Saturday afternoon, fulfilling Ryan Reynolds’ rather bold target.
Wrexham say goodbye to League One this weekend, safe in the knowledge that Championship football has already been secured.
This weekend’s trip to Lincoln City will bring no drama after Wrexham beat Charlton Athletic 3-0 on Saturday evening.
Phil Parkinson’s side produced a brilliant performance to seal second place in League One – and a third straight promotion.
Wrexham will soon begin planning for life in the Championship, something which seemed like a complete pipe dream before McElhenney and Reynolds’ 2025 takeover.
McElhenney sees more success for Wrexham in the future, and we can only believe that Reynolds feels the same way.
Wrexham secure the promotion Ryan Reynolds wanted
Back-to-back promotions represented an incredible achievement for Wrexham this time a year ago.
Going from the National League to League One in such rapid fashion meant Wrexham had to bolster over the summer, and many were tempering expectations.
Humphrey Ker wanted to consolidate in mid-table, aiming for around 10th place in the League One table before kicking on from there.
Phil Parkinson aimed for the play-offs in pre-season, but ended up blowing straight past that target.
Reynolds was the one who immediately wanted another promotion.
This time a year ago, Reynolds admitted targeting promotion to the Championship in Wrexham’s first season back in League One.
Reynolds vowed to ‘go for broke’ in search of promotion, vowing to ‘do whatever it takes’ to reach the second tier with a third straight promotion.
“No, we’re going for broke,” said Reynolds. “We must get promoted and that is… every cell in our body is engineered right now towards that goal and we’ll do whatever it takes to get there. That’s all we’re thinking about when it comes to the club at the moment,” he added.
To immediately have that in mind, just days after promotion from League Two, just showed the kind of ambition Reynolds possesses.
Reynolds got his wish, with Wrexham securing a place in the Championship next season.
Reports suggest Wrexham will splash the cash this summer, so maybe Reynolds and McElhenney want promotion again.
It’s only fitting that Sam Smith made Reynolds’ dream come true
The man who pushed Wrexham over the line against Charlton was striker Sam Smith.
Smith’s acrobatic finish stunned Reynolds as he put Wrexham 2-0 up, before adding a third to truly rubber-stamp promotion.
It was only fitting that Smith was the man to send Wrexham up, as his move perfectly summed up Reynolds’ ‘going for broke’ comments.
Wrexham paid a club-record fee for Smith in January, believed to be worth around £2million.
Smith was a proven League One goalscorer with Reading and Cambridge United, leaving Wrexham to believe that he could make a huge impact.
Sure enough, the goals have continued to flow for Smith with seven goals in just 18 Wrexham appearances.
Wrexham sensed that January was the time to strike and push the boat out for a huge signing to get over the line in the promotion race.
Wrexham were in the hunt but didn’t rest on any laurels and continued investing in a bid to beat Wycombe Wanderers to second place.
Smith has proven to be money well spent, and his goals against Charlton meant Reynolds’ promotion dream came true.
Reynolds may have sounded a little over-ambitious at the time, but his vision has paid off – and this is why we just can’t rule out Premier League football in the near future.
